Men prone to higher incidence of mental disorders

Swazi men are more likely to be mentally challenged than Swazi women, a pilot study conducted by the ministry for social health and welfare has found.

"Men comprise 60 percent of cases involving individuals who have learning disabilities or are otherwise mentally challenged," said the study, released this week. No reasons were given for the higher prevalence of mental incapacitation among men.

The research encompassed physical as well as mental disabilities, and examined caseloads at government hospitals and the National Psychiatric Centre, in the central commercial town of Manzini, 35km southeast of the capital, Mbabane.

Learning disabilities among Swazis have been linked to a lack of vitamin A in the national diet, which has been blamed for a 10 percent to 15 percent drop in the intelligence quotient (IQ) of the average Swazi.

A social worker at a private psychiatric clinic told IRIN that the health ministry study was based on medical cases of individuals admitted to hospitals for psychiatric reasons, and might not accurately reflect the prevalence of mental illness in both sexes.

"Because men are the breadwinners, they are more likely to be treated when they are incapacitated because the family needs him to get better, whereas a Swazi woman would stay at home in the care of relatives."

The study aimed to catalogue the incidence and distribution of all forms of disability, and found that women were more likely to have multiple physical disabilities, some brought on by stress.

"Amongst women the three most prevalent combinations of multiple disability consist of a loss of physical feeling in the hands, impaired speech and impaired hearing," the health ministry report said.

The researchers did not speculate on the reasons for the disparity between sexes.

The major cause of disability in all Swazis was illness, which accounted for 42 percent of cases, while 22 percent of disabled people were born with one or more disabilities and 10 percent of disabilities arose from accidents at home or on the farm.

According to Mbabane medical intern Charles Ndwandwe, AIDS-related illnesses have added to the apparently growing incidence of disabilities. He commented that before AIDS, ten years ago, the majority of disabilities had been caused either by birth defects or accidents.

UNAIDS estimates the national HIV infection rate of people aged 15 to 49 at 33.4 percent, the highest in the world.

The study found that the 10 percent disabilities in men had originated in workplace accidents, while this was the case in only 2 percent of disabled women.

The health ministry said the lower number of women in the formal-sector workforce, particularly light industry and manufacturing, accounted for the difference.

jh/go/he